I wept because Mama died without giving me scholaship, says 11-yr-old Mayflower pupil

I knew Mama very well. We all loved her because she loved all of us. She gave scholarships to students whose parents could not pay their school fees. She even sent people overseas to study. I cried when I heard that she was dead. This is because I had hoped that one day she would give me a scholarship

Sheila Solarin, humanist and wife of late educationist, Tai Solarin, knew her time on earth was up and prepared for her eventual transition. As she prepared to breathe her last, the words on her lips were: “I want to go home. I want to seeTai.”

Sheila, who died on Sunday, October 21, 2012 at the age of 88, according to her daughter, Corin Solarin, lived for humanity. “I was with her when she went home. And the last thing Mama said was: ‘I want to go home. I want to see Tai.’ She knew she was going, and she prepared herself.”

Corins said witnessing her mother’s transition had further strengthened her resolve to live life like her and makes her (Corins) bold to face her last moments gracefully the way she did. “We’ll all get old someday. I hope that I can face it with as much courage and grace as she did,” she said.

Indeed, since she passed on, her home, located inside the premises of Mayflower Schools, Ikenne, Ogun State, has continued to receive visitors who troop there to pay their last respects to a woman acknowledged by many to be passionate about education.

Speaking with The Nation, Corin said although her mother’s death was painful, she and the rest of the family were happy that she lived a “Christ-like life” because of her untainted love for children.

And it was for her love of children that the Scripture Union (SU), Remo, Ogun State, stated in the condolence register: “Adieu Mama. Your love for children and youths brought us together to camp our youths for annual long vacation camp.”

The SU was not alone in the outpouring of emotions since news of her death broke. For Corin, the comments and outpouring of emotions were testimonies that “Mama has gone to be with the Lord.”

She added: “What I’d miss most about her is her hard work and her love for the people around her. She was an inspiration to everyone, especially me. She was a dynamo. I have been in this house receiving guests, and it is a sign that she was widely loved. I don’t think she had any enemy. You can imagine, the governor of the state, Ibikunle Amosun, was among the very first set of people to visit the hospital. The students have been here to show how much they will miss her. That shows you how the people viewed her.”

Corin is also not unaware that she cannot fill the vacuum created by the death of Mama. “She is one in a million and I will never be Mama, though I share the same DNA with her. I hope for my own sake that there is a lot of Mama in me, though I know that there is a lot of independence in me because I have been told that. I try to be as upright and caring as Mama was, but there was only one Mama.”

Talking about the legacies of Mama, Corin said they were never in fancy buildings or in wealth. And sure enough, you need not be told about this aspect of Mama’s life. Her living room remains Spartan, austere and devoid of the type of splendour and ambience you would expect to find in the home of a woman of her stature. The most conspicuous treasures on the wall were two paintings of Tai and Sheila. In another corner was a rich library of National Geography magazines.

Among the other things that make Corin proud of Mama’s legacies is her love for humanity. “I am humbled to be the child of a woman who lived her life for the people. All the people who have come to pay condolences have not come to see me. They came to see Mama. I am very proud to be the daughter of somebody who, as simple as she and Papa were, have continued to command the respect of the people.”

Corin is not alone in this outpouring of emotions for a woman who viewed education as the only way to set oneself free from poverty. Eleven-year-old Oso Aramide is a JSS student of Mayflower Junior School. She was among the many students who broke down in tears when news of the death of the woman they had all come to regard as Mama filtered into the school last Monday.

Oso, who started her education from the Mayflower Kindergarten, had hoped to benefit from Mama’s scholarship any time soon. But her death has robbed her of that dream.

“I knew Mama very well. We all loved her because she loved all of us. She gave scholarships to students whose parents could not pay their school fees. She even sent people overseas to study. I cried when I heard that she was dead. This is because I had hoped that one day she would give me a scholarship.”

Her friend and classmate, Elizabeth Ajabu, felt sad that Sheila was dead. Her death, she said, would rob the younger generation of students at the school the chance to benefit from her wealth of experience.

“As children, we heard a lot about Mama. She was loved by all of us because she showed concern for all of us. If she noticed anything about you, she would call you to find out. She was a mother to all of us.”

It was the same story for Farouk Olasunkanmi. A lively boy, Farouk said he and his friends were sad that death had taken away “our mummy.”

The Vice Principal of the school, Mrs. Kemi Yussuf, believed the teachers would miss the late educationist more than the children. According to her, Mrs. Solarin was a mother figure to the entire population of the school.

“Would you believe she still came to school till last July before we went on vacation? She was the Head of Department of the English Language. She took special interest in all the teachers and students. She taught letter writing and essay writing. She was too good. We will all miss her.”

The children are not the only ones that will miss Sheila Solarin. This was the message of the Ogun State Commissioner for Education, Olusegun Odubela. Speaking with The Nation when he paid a condolence visit to the home of the Solarins in Ikenne, Odubela described Sheila as a pillar of education.

“You know Mama was a pillar when you talk of education in Ogun State. She was a woman of substance. She dedicated almost her entire life to the development of education. For us as a government, particularly in the education sector, if you talk about education in Ogun State and Nigeria, you must mention her name. For our governor in particular, he really cherished her. You know for him, education is key.”

Interestingly, Odubela’s first official function as a commissioner was a visit to Sheila. “My first official function after being sworn in as a commissioner was a visit to Mama. The governor had only administered the oath of office on us when he called me and said I would accompany him to Ikenne,” he recalled.

He also expressed optimism that the state government would do something to immortalise her. “Though it is too early for me to talk on that now, knowing our governor for who he is, I am sure he will do something to immortalise Mama.”

With her funeral fixed for November 8 and 9, 2012, her burial plans have no doubt eclipsed that of her husband who was buried in a simple grave a few hours after he passed on, in respect to his request.

But Corin explained that her mother’s funeral plans will not take anything away from her simple lifestyle. “Mama did not make any request on how she should be buried. But if you look at her very well, Mama was a simple woman. You wouldn’t catch her in lace material or gele (head gear). She was a very simple woman, and we will make the burial ceremony in keeping with what she would have wanted.

“We also want to ensure that the community of Ikenne and every other person who had contact with her are given the opportunity to pay their last respects to her. Mama had many children, though she had just two (biological) children. So, all of these people would be given the opportunity to say goodbye to her. But I can assure you that it will be devoid of any form of ostentation.”

While it is true that Mama had only two biological children, there are thousands of others who regard themselves as her children. Bonded together by their Alma Mata, Mayflower Schools, they all regard and address themselves as ‘Ex-May’.

One of them is Dr. Wale Omole, the Chief Medical Director of T&S Hospital, Mushin, Lagos. Young Omole first met Tai and Sheila Solarin sometime in 1973 when he arrived at Mayflower Schools for his secondary education.

The son of a farmer and a petty trader, Omole went to Mayflower, courtesy of an elder brother. But within a short time, the young boy had drawn the attention of Tai and his wife.

“My first encounter with Mama occurred sometime in 1973. I wanted to travel, so I needed permission to enable me travel. I went to see Papa to request for an exit but he wanted to know why I wanted to travel and I told him I wanted to go and see my brother for my school fees. He simply refused to let me go because, according to him, the roads were bad and I was too precious to the school. There and then, he offered me a scholarship.”

But Omole would end up not using the scholarship. He said: “One day, I was in the classroom when I received a note from Madam (that was what I called Mama then) that I should see her. When I arrived at her office, she simply smiled and gave me a strong handshake. She told me that I had won the Western State scholarship.”

From that point, he became a kind of unofficially adopted son of the Solarins. “I stopped going home for holidays. It really surprised me that people who didn’t know my parents would decide to take me as their own child. We were many like that who found home with them.”

The late Sheila was born in Carnforth, Lancs, England in 1924. She came to Nigeria in 1952 when she joined her husband to work at the famous Molusi College, Ijebu Igbo, Ogun State. She left three years after to become the principal of Ijebu Igbo Girls’ School.

She would move again to team up with her husband to establish the famous Mayflower School, Ikenne, in 1956. Her love and dedication to children made her a toast of the students who found a mother figure in her.

She was also appointed the founding principal of Ikenne Community High School in 1980. Four years after, she retired to oversee her pet school, the Mayflower Junior School.

Funny enough, the history of the pet school is tied to that of Corin. “Mama started that school with me and a few other children of our neigbours. When it was time for me to start school, she discovered that there were no schools around, so she decided to teach me and others. That was how the school started.

As the November burial date for Sheila draws near, her home continues to attract sympathisers who want to celebrate a woman who lived her life to ensure that as many children as possible get education.